Top 10 Italian Turbos

Like it or not, the turbocharger is the future for supercars for now. There will be other ways of powering these types of cars in the future however for now we are stuck with turbo petrols as they are more fuel efficient and they are more powerful than natually asperated engines. Here are my top 10 (in no particular order) turbocharged Italian Cars

I will start this top 10 with a car that we love at Enzari having being able to experience one a few months back. If you want a car with a traditional sports car feel without spending all your money on maintenence bills that an older car can sometimes bring with it; look no further. With 138 BHP developed from a 1.4 turbocharged petrol engine, this car can really fly especially as it weighs just over 1 tonne.

Ferrari knew that getting rid of the naturally aspirated V8 would cause controversy. However, with the 488 they were able to pull it off. The 488 is much faster than it’s predecesor as it went round the Nurburgring 11 seconds faster than the 458.

The Lancia Delta Intergrale is a rally legend having won the WRC championship 6 times in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992. The cars produced for the road showed the rally pedegree using a 200 BHP turbocharged engine sending power through all 4 wheels. It was good for 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. For people who don’t know about cars, It doesn’t look like much but this car is legendary and it will only go up in value.

This car is one that I really do love. I have always had a soft spot for the Fiat 500 and so when Abarth took it and added their own 1.4 litre turbo engine; they created a real pocket rocket. Power has increassed since it was first launched from 130 bhp to 145 bhp making a car which not only looks cool; but one which has the power to match.

Ok, I may have cheated a little on this one. It is turbocharged however unlike the cars before this one, they only had one turbo. This Alfa has two. Alfa Romeo had been losing out to the Germans when it came to making fast saloons. They hadn’t made anything for years which could rival the BMW M3. However, with the Giulia Quadrifoglio they have finally made a super saloon which some say is even better than the best from Germany.

Another twin turbocharged engine but this time it is a V8 rather than a V6. The 288 GTO was based on the 308 (possibly one of my favouite Ferraris) which had 1 turbo. It produced 400 BHP and it was able to get to 60 in 5 seconds flat. This is 1984 we’re talking about and 5 seconds is still considered fast by today’s standards.

With a 6.0 litre twin turbo V12, the Pagani Huayra is as fast as it’s name is inpronouncable. It produces 720 BHP whilst weighing only 1.3 tonnes. It is the definition of a hypercar. Sadly, that means there is a hypercar price too. In the UK today, it costs around £1,000,000!

This is a controversial one.The twin turbo V8 GTC4 Lusso is not a traditional Ferrari. It is front engined to start with which is not usual for Ferrari but it also has 4 seats and a decently sized boot. If you go for the V12 you can even get 4WD (in the first 5 gears.) However, the V12 isn’t turbochared so we’re only interested in it’s cheaper V8 brother. This is a Ferrari which can technically be used everyday. What’s not to love?

This car tried to help bring power to more people. This is because in Italy there are taxes on cars with an engine larger than 2.0 litres. This meant that Alfa used a turbo here to get more power from the GTV but at the same time cost customers less in tax. It produced 197 BHP which was more than the basic 3.0 litre V6.

This car is possibly one of the most iconic Ferraris ever built. It was the first production car to be able to reach speeds of over 200 mph. It puts out 478 BHP in a car that weighs around the same weight as a Golf GTI. This creates a unique driving experience only a lucky few will be able to appriciate.